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Fatigue and fracture of pultruded composite rods developed for overhead conductor cables

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FATIGUE AND FRACTURE OF PULTRUDED COMPOSITE RODS DEVELOPED
FOR OVERHEAD CONDUCTOR CABLES
by
Nikhil Kumar Kar
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(MECHANICAL ENGINEERING)
August 2012
Copyright 2012 Nikhil Kumar Kar

Polymer matrix composites (PMCs) have been used extensively in the aerospace industry for the past five decades. There has been an upsurge in the use of PMCs in other industrials sectors such as civil infrastructure, automotive, marine and sporting applications. The primary advantage of using PMCs over conventional metals and alloys are the increase in weight savings, increased stiffness and strength properties. A new application of PMCs has been developed and applied as the load bearing member for overhead conductor cables. Traditional overhead conductor cables are comprised of an aluminum cable with a steel reinforcement (ACSR). The new overhead conductor replaces the steel core of the conductor with a single continuous hybrid composite cylinder. The composite core is comprised of glass fibers and carbon fibers in a common matrix, and the primary advantage of these composite reinforced conductors is the reduction in sag and increase in ampacity over conventional ACSR conductors. ❧ One of the major concerns of the hybrid composite core is long term durability under various combined environments and loading conditions. Overhead conductor cables are exposed to moisture, extreme ice and wind conditions, cyclic temperatures and fatigue loads. The mechanical and physical properties of polymer composites can degrade under such conditions, and the ability to understand degradation mechanisms is important to create predictive models for long term durability. More specifically, the basic mechanical properties, fatigue response of the composite rods, and the deformation behavior under transverse loads is unknown, and the work here investigates such behavior to shed light on design factors that can contribute to degradation in mechanical properties while in service.

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ii
FATIGUE AND FRACTURE OF PULTRUDED COMPOSITE RODS DEVELOPED
FOR OVERHEAD CONDUCTOR CABLES
by
Nikhil Kumar Kar
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(MECHANICAL ENGINEERING)
August 2012
Copyright 2012 Nikhil Kumar Kar